East Los High—A Lot Like My High School

East Los High, a new teen drama available on Hulu for free, is addictive. With the sexting, safer sex and first-time sex, I found myself drawn deeper and deeper into the series. East Los High is a great series that brings up a lot of social and sexual issues that teenagers face in everyday life. I may not live in East Los Angeles, but I definitely see the same issues in my high school.

In one episode, Vanessa gets caught cheating on her boyfriend. Someone records it and shares it with the whole school. This may seem extreme, but these things do happen. Sexting is an issue that depending on what state you live in carries serious charges. East Los High does a good job of pointing out how even though we live in a digital world and can delete something on our phones, this doesn’t mean it’s erased forever. The best way to avoid sexts going viral, in my opinion, is to just not sext at all.

As I watched the show, I was also surprised that so many of the main characters felt that if a girl was on the Pill, condoms weren’t necessary. Although birth control pills are extremely effective when taken correctly, they only prevent pregnancy, not the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). It’s also a good idea to have a second form of birth control, just in case. Two of the students at East Los High, Ceci and Abe, have sex, and Abe pulls out. A few weeks later, Ceci is pregnant. She stresses the importance of using condoms to another character Jessie.

The main character, Jessie, is still a virgin. She meets a boy, Jacob, and feels pressured by her friends to have sex with him. But, Jessie decides to wait until she is ready. It’s easy to forget that we don’t have to do anything until we are ready. We don’t have to have sex just because everyone else supposedly is. And, when Jessie finally decides to have sex with Jacob, they practice safer sex.

There are new episode every weekday for the month of June, and I will definitely be watching on Hulu. I’ll also be writing weekly updates. Have an opinion on the show or the different issues that come up? Tell me what you’re thinking in the comments!